Tuesday, July 12, 2011

To Float or not to Float...

Cassondra: I was in New York a couple of weeks ago, like many of the Bandits, and had a chance to spend just a bit of time with the one Bandit I sometimes refer to as “my evil twin.”

You might wonder why we would think of ourselves that way, since I’m short and dark haired, with a rather overpowering preference for black clothing, dark blue nail polish, and deep purple lipstick, while Jeanne is tall, stacked and blonde, with a tendency to wear *shudder* earth tones.

Jeanne: Hey! I resemble that remark! (Heehee. Actually, it's quite a nice description....thanks!)Cassondra, rolling her eyes: Nevertheless, for you who might not have noticed this, we tend, often, to think alike about certain things. We’re both extremely analytical, come from strong marketing, art and design, and business backgrounds, and we both like things that go boom.

Jeanne: I love it when she calls me analytical. I SO don't think I am, but it's nice to know someone ELSE does!

Cassondra: Will you let me finish?

Jeanne: Pray, continue, my Evil Twin.

Cassondra: Thank you. We also both come from small country towns, love plants and gardening, and have a strong interest in a lot of similar things.

But when it comes to food, the similarities….well…I begin to doubt our twinhood.

Jeanne: Gasp! Say it isn't SO!!!

Cassondra: Yes! It's so! During the New York trip, a vast chasm opened between us. Yes, that’s right. We’re disagreeing about food again. And this time, it’s sacred.

Jeanne: (muffled laugh) It's a sacred cow-product! Oh, noes!!

Cassondra stifles a grin: This is serious! Y’all remember my ice cream blog, right? So you know I’m no stranger to cow-originated goodness. So it’s probably no surprise to you that I love floats.

Jeanne: Ugh.

Cassondra: Hey! I mean I don’t just like floats. I love floats. Being much like the Sally character in When Harry Met Sally, I like them made a certain particular way, of course. I do NOT want the ice cream all blended together with the soda. That’s just gross.

Cassondra: Thank you. But as to floats, the ice cream and the soda of choice should not become some amorphous, smooth substance. The ice cream and the soda must remain individual. It’s a marriage of two distinct and opposite individuals, one with a crisp, bright burn, and one with a sweet, soft, creaminess. It is NOT a genetic blending experiment, where everything ends up looking the same. Ew.

I want generous scoops of ice cream, with Coke or root beer poured over the top (allowing proper time for the foam to go down, of course), then poured over the top again, until the container is full to the top of soda, and then I want extra Coke or root beer on the side. While I realize there is a group of float lovers who prefer to have their Coke poured in first, then their ice cream scooped in, because, they say, it doesn’t foam nearly as badly that way, I say this is bowing to convenience. Maybe even bordering on laziness, this sacrifice of quality for speed of preparation. I am a Coke Over Ice Cream float girl.

I do not want chocolate ice cream, nor any other flavor except rich, natural vanilla. No swirls, no nuts, no candy additives. I want a bit of time for the ice cream to become malleable. Then I poke at it with the long-handled spoon so bits of it break off into the ambery liquid. So I can then slurp the glorious combination.Yummmmm.

This, I do not understand. Instead, she likes malts.Jeanne: Yes, yes I do.

Now let me be clear. It's not that I find a float abhorrent or anything, it's just....well...Let me put it this way. It's a million degrees here in DC this week. The humidity is about 110%, with blue skies, and no rain. I'm hibernating in the house. Hiding, actually. Do you know what that kind of humidity does to my hair? Eeeeek!

Coke, Diet Coke, Root Beer - they're all wonderful, but there is nothing, and I mean NOTHING that is as refreshing and "bring-down-the-core-temp-good" like a milkshake. In particular, a malt. You know, a mix of cold, gorgeous ice cream in vanilla, coffee, chocolate (pick a flavor, but it's got to be real ice cream), luscious milk, and malted flavoring. YUMMMMM!!!

Cassondra: Okay, we agree on the "real ice cream" part, but once you get flavors or - UGH! - MALT in there, we are at a very wide cravasse in our twinhood. I cannot understand this passion you have for malt. Malted milk balls--okay I can tolerate those. But malt in your ice cream? Yuck. Give me a good, old fashioned float any day. You know, an ice cream float - ice cream floating in a soft drink, like root beer.

Jeanne: Ohhhh no. No fizzy, fuzzy stuff messing up my ice cream, please and thank you. I'm planning to have a malt today in fact, and tomorrow, and probably the next day as a defense against the evil heat and humidity. (We have a code orange heat advisory - baaaaaad)

Cassondra: Truly, you astonish me. Why would you want to diss my perfect summer beverage? I will admit to one exception to my strict coke/vanilla combo.

Jeanne: Just the one?

Cassondra: Oh, be quiet. The one is the orange dreamsicle float, with vanilla ice cream and orange soda. Oh. My. Gosh. And when anyone has a sick stomach, I make them an orange sherbet with 7-up float. Goes down easy and stays down when nothing else will.

Jeanne: Remind me not to be sick around you. Hate to admit it but I'm SO not a dreamsicle fan. My DH - he'd LOVE for you to be around when he's sick. He's an huge fan of orange/vanilla combos, no matter what frozen form they take.

And going back to the point at hand, why would you want to ruin a perfectly good scoop of ice cream by submerging it in, or pouring Coke over it? Or Root Beer? Why, for that matter, would you ruin a perfectly good, ice cold root beer, by dumping ice cream in it?

Cassondra: Oh, please. I’m sorry, but what, precisely, IS malt? I’ve wondered this for a long while now. They never let you actually see it, and I find that deeply troubling. It doesn’t come from a “malt” plant. There is no “malt cow.” No “malt truck” drives up and unloads cans of it. They dump it into the cup when you’re not looking, then they keep their backs to you while they put in the ice cream and blend it all together.

Jeanne: *rubs hands in glee* Malt is made from grain, m'dear Twin! It's the food of the Gods, don't-cha-know. Snork!!! See, you get a grain AND a dairy serving when you get a malt!

(Nancy, that makes malted milk balls a grain food! We're saved!)

Cassondra: Maybe we should switch husbands since your husband, Ralph, likes floats and dreamsicles. My husband, Steve, likes floats, but alas, Jeanne, like you he LOVES malts. In fact he likes EXTRA malt in his vanilla malts. I have no idea how we ended up together.

He has a theory that floats, actually, are a regional thing. A few years ago, he worked for a big hospital corporation, and traveled all over the country visiting hospitals and helping with their scheduling software. He’s run across several places where floats are not served. At one point he was in Texas, (I think) when he stopped by an ice cream shop—one of the little glass-walled kind that I blogged about a couple of months ago—and asked for a float. They looked at him with a blank stare. Then they frowned.

“A what?” they asked.

“A float,” he said. “You know, ice cream with coke or root beer poured over it?”The girl looked over at her ice-cream scoop-wielding companion. Scoop girl came over and stood near girl number one, making an impenetrable wall of “ya ain’t from here are ya” confusion. They’d never heard of a float.

I mean really! They don't know about floats! How can this be? After I’ve heard such nice things about Texas? I might start to believe that Texas really is a whole other country—an alien one where they don’t serve floats.Jeanne: Now, I do find that hard to believe--the not knowing about floats. Or maybe it's that your region (Kentucky) and my original region (North Carolina) are so close and so similar that they DID know about floats.

However, your point about Texas being an alien country is also well taken. It IS where they filmed Cowboys and Aliens, so....coincidence? Perhaps not!

Cassondra, laughing: Could be, could be. Steve explained the concept, but they could not imagine pouring soda (pop, Coke, soft drink, whatever they call it down there) over ice cream.

You know what I think, though? I think they served him the malt he settled for (Bleh), then they closed the windows, and late that night, after dark, with the lights out, they scooped out some ice cream, poured root beer over it, and found their way to Nirvana. The question, of course, is whether they’ve kept it their special little secret, or whether they’ve shared it with others, spreading the float love across a barren, malt-infested land.

Jeanne: Malt infested? Oh, for Pete's sake! It's GRAIN, I tell ya'! So we're a grain infested land. Excellent. Amber waves, and all that. Snork! Tell Steve we'll fix him right up with a malt, and you and Ralph can go slurp down some carbonated milky goo drinks. I swear, I'm sending Steve a ginormous box of malted milk balls for Christmas, just to tweak you. Bwahahahahah!

Cassondra: Ya'll can have them. I'll studiously ignore them as I find Nirvana in ice cream and Coke. Oh, and your husband is too tall for me, and you're taller than Steve, so you keep Ralph, and I'll keep Steve. Kay?

Jeanne:Of course, because, hey, we chose them for other reasons than ice-cream-beverage preferences. *VEG* But when visiting all together, the four of us? Ya'll go to the other side of the table with those floats. Steve and I will keep our malts allll nice and soda-free.

Okay, so who's side are YOU on? Malt or Float?

Flavored ice cream, or pure, perfect vanilla?

Toppings, nuts, and fruits? (And here I AM in Twinhood again because I don't like cold nuts - SNORK! - nor do I like fruit goo on my ice cream)

malted -- that's whoppers & robin eggs @ easter not a beverage. Milkshake however, thick & rich is very yummy. Floats also very yummy & very much taking me back to childhood. But none of that soft serve ice cream. MUST be real scooped vanilla ice cream & is a little better ice cream first. I actually kinda like the foam + that way you get the ice crystals on the ice cream which gives it that additional texture/taste. mmmmm, yummy. cola or root beer was used for floats. Faygo redpop was the choice for a cherry soda (from SW PA where we drink pop, soda has ice cream in and comes in flavors other than cola or root beer ;p ) Again only scooped ice cream in vanilla for floats/sodas allowed. for shakes no such restriction, but no add-ins (that's a whole different treat). Sorry Jeanne, even in this weeks here in DC a float/soda would go down really good, but then so does a good shake :)

As for the float/malt controversy, oh, it's clearly floats. I mean, malt in a non-beer beverage?! Sorry, Duchesse, but no way. (And no, it does not count as a "grain food.")

Malted milk balls, yes. Malted ice cream, not so much.

My grandfather introduced me to floats, in his big, old kitchen with the glass-fronted cabinets. He scooped vanilla ice cream into a glass and poured that wonderful curative substance, Canada Dry Ginger Ale over it. Only Canada Dry would do, and it remains my choice of ginger ales.

He also considered Canada Dry a cure for almost anything, and what that wouldn't cure, Alka-Seltzer would. Including headaches.

Anyway, my current choice in floats is made by putting Breyer's chocolate ice cream in a tall glass and pouring Coke (no Pepsi. Coke) over it. Yumm! By the time I work my way to the bottom of the glass, the Ice cream has a wonderful, slushy texture

nyway, my current choice in floats is made by putting Breyer's chocolate ice cream in a tall glass and pouring Coke (no Pepsi. Coke) over it. Yumm! By the time I work my way to the bottom of the glass, the Ice cream has a wonderful, slushy texture

Okay, I started out cheering cuz you were firmly on the FLOAT side of the food fight. But then you got to the point about the chocolate ice cream.

Ew.

And I wrinkled up my nose so much at the whole idea, that I'm having a tough time getting it unwrinkled.

Nancy wrote: My grandfather introduced me to floats, in his big, old kitchen with the glass-fronted cabinets. He scooped vanilla ice cream into a glass and poured that wonderful curative substance, Canada Dry Ginger Ale over it. Only Canada Dry would do, and it remains my choice of ginger ales.

Aww, now this I can see. How cool.

I still love a malt better, but this is so evocative.

And I'll call you on ginger ales too. Canada Dry's good, but there is nothing - and I do mean nothing - like Vernor's. It's really STOUT ginger ale. Canada dry invented the milder form, which made it's popularity soar in the late 1800's, because it's mild, mixes well with other beverages, etc. Grins. No, I'm SO not telling why I know about ginger ales.

However, if you want a Ginger Ale that will make you sit up and take notice, try Vernors. :>

It's something my mother believed would cure what ailed you, much like your granddad thought the same of Canada Dry. Mama also thought a good Co-Cola would soothe your stomach and she was right. Grins.

there is nothing - and I do mean nothing - like Vernor's. It's really STOUT ginger ale. Canada dry invented the milder form, which made it's popularity soar in the late 1800's, because it's mild, mixes well with other beverages, etc.

Really? I've never had a Vernor's. Where does one get this pinnacle of Ginger Ales?

Floats all the way! Sorry, Jeanne! I love milkshakes but floats beat them hands down in any contest! And I'm not so sure about malted milkshakes...I've never tried one and though I do like malted milk balls, I dunno about it being in a drink...I remember hating Ovaltine as a kid.

Cassondra, if it weren't for the bit about root beer(*gag* so vile!), I would've thought that I'd been the one to write all that about floats! That's EXACTLY the way I like mine. Coke over lots of vanilla ice cream, unblended...I even do that whole bit where I wait for the foam to go down to make more room for more Coke! I'm not quite with you on the vanilla ice cream and orange pop, though. I don't hate them but I've never been a big fan of orange creamsicles. My first float experience was as a kid when someone ordered me one with strawberry ice cream and orange pop...slightly odd but not bad. It started my lifelong obsession with floats. :D

Oh, as for ice cream toppings, I don't like my ice cream encumbered by toppings, not even fresh fruit. On occasion, I don't mind chocolate things like sprinkles or syrup or chocolate chips but I always feel like I would like my ice cream just as much as if I didn't have any of it. In the cases of the sprinkles or chocolate chips, I always end up eating them off my ice cream first.

Jeanne wrote: And I'll call you on ginger ales too. Canada Dry's good, but there is nothing - and I do mean nothing - like Vernor's. It's really STOUT ginger ale.

I tried a ginger ale in a shop at Colonial Williamsburg that was amazing. No idea what kind it was now, but it had a nip to it. One of the local restaurants serves ginger ale made in their kitchens in the summer, and it's really good.

And that "ginger beer" in the hotel bar in NYC had a lot going for it.

Cassondra, if it weren't for the bit about root beer(*gag* so vile!), I would've thought that I'd been the one to write all that about floats!

OH! Say it ain't so! *hangs head*

I don't mind chocolate things like sprinkles or syrup or chocolate chips but I always feel like I would like my ice cream just as much as if I didn't have any of it. In the cases of the sprinkles or chocolate chips, I always end up eating them off my ice cream first.

Exactly. So why sully the ice cream with those encumbrances in the first place! *high fives with pissenlit*

Wow, Jeanne and Cassondra, what a lot of passion you've devoted to this particular subject. Actually the whole float culture isn't really huge here. Yes, I know, Cassondra is horrified and is running off to cancel her flight to Oz as we speak. Jeanne, I LOVE a milkshake (especially with malt although that's getting increasingly harder to get here for some reason). Chocolate! Only chocolate. I know there are other flavors out there but they pale in comparison to the glories of a big cold frothy chocolate milkshake.

Sadly, my hips then develop an eternal relationship with the milkshake so I don't actually have them that often but every so often, I have a leeeeeetle treat. There's a Wendy's in my local shopping mall that does a killer chocolate milkshake. Yum!!!!!

Woo! *high five* Vanilla and Coke floats FTW! But ya, sorry 'bout the root beer being a no go. Most of my friends love the stuff but I never could stand it. They recently picked up some bottles of real old school root beer(not the carbonated pop kind) that they came across during a tour of a local microbrewery. I tried half a bottle *shudder*. Wow, that was a huge wallop of flavour...and not the kind I like.

Root beer floats! Of course, the best part is after the ice cream melts and it's all melted creamy goodness mixed with root beer. Yum! As for the ice cream, chocolate is best. I'm not really a nut person either, but mini-marshmallows and chocolate sauce are awesome!

I'll have to go with malt here. Although I do love the sherbert/7-up punch/float too. I make it with lime though. Or Icee's. Nothing like a cherry Icee on a HOT day. I craved those the entire time I was pregnant with my youngest.

Anna said:Jeanne, I LOVE a milkshake (especially with malt although that's getting increasingly harder to get here for some reason).Chocolate! Only chocolate. I know there are other flavors out there but they pale in comparison to the glories of a big cold frothy chocolate milkshake.

FINALLY! Praise heaven! Someone FINALLY agrees with me!

Grins.

I love a good chocolate milkshake. And I have to say, Wendy's frosty's are pretty darn fabulous. May have to have one of those tomorrow and I'll add some extra MALT, just for your sake, Anna!

...they(Friends)recently picked up some bottles of real old school root beer(not the carbonated pop kind) that they came across during a tour of a local microbrewery. I tried half a bottle *shudder*. Wow, that was a huge wallop of flavour...and not the kind I like.

Wow indeed. I'm proud of you for getting through half a bottle.

I do get that Root Beer, like Dr. Pepper, is apparently a unique set of flavor profiles, and people tend to polarize around the love it/hate it ends of the spectrum regarding these flavors.

Hmmm...perhaps malt is this way as well...

I've noticed our food fights tend to end up rather evenly divided, but the Jeanne supporters usually do show up in the morning.

Perhaps Nancy is right,and the "malt" gene is congruent with the "morning person" gene, and Jeanne is the exception which proves the rule.

Steve used to get up and be at work at 5 in the morning, and he loved that job. And he likes malt....

Root beer floats! Of course, the best part is after the ice cream melts and it's all melted creamy goodness mixed with root beer. Yum! As for the ice cream, chocolate is best. I'm not really a nut person either, but mini-marshmallows and chocolate sauce are awesome!

Oh, dear. Root beer with chocolate ice cream?

This is not going as I'd hoped.

No, not at all. *looks around, then tosses the chocolate ice cream into the back yard*

Jane said: I love all things malt, especially Maltesers. I do like vanilla, but I also love chocolate and butter pecan. I don't really like toppings on my ice cream, but I can tolerate strawberries and fudge.

Oh, bless you, my child! And Maltesers ROCK! :>

Butter Pecan was my dad's favorite, but I couldn't get behind those cold pecans. I like pecans every other way from Sunday, but not cold. Unless it's cold pecan pie. THAT...well, yeah.

I've got to hit the hay as well. See ya'll in the morning after I do Camp Dropoff. (No, I'm not taking my kids to Camp Dropoff, though that sounds funny too. I'm getting very punchy. I'm dropping my kids off at Camp THEN I'm commenting...Quit laughing, Cassondra)

Javakula is a cold blended coffee drink at Seattle's Best. I get the Chocolate Coffee Crunch but with chocolate shavings instead of coffee beans because I don't like having bits of coffee beans in my teeth.

You gals are hilarious! I must say you both put a very good case for each beverage. I used to love malted milk that my grandfather used to make so I'd have to go with that. Although I do have nostalgia for floats, which we call spiders here in Oz--not sure why that is. Maybe because tendrils of icecream float downwards like spider's legs?

There used to be an amazing ice cream bar in a local shopping mall that sold soft serve ice cream with real fruit whipped in. Loved the mango flavour! Mmmm.

Well done Deanna a lovley day here in Sydney for him although I might keep him away from the refrigerator LOL

Cassondra and Jeanne

What a post LOL I loved it

And you know what I love them all floats and malt and any flavoured ice cream with fruit and without fruit and nuts as well. There is not much I don't like in these forms of desert (only mangos).Here in Australia the grandkids like fire engines which is lemonade with raspberry cordial and ice cream or a spider that has green cordial in it they love it when Nanna makes them one.And we call those yummy malt balls malteasers and they are a fvourite of mine and who can go past a chocolated malted milkshake chocolate is the only flavour I will have malt with.Sorry I can't choose love them all

yes -- a soda is pop (generally other than cola or root beer) & ice cream together. Took years for me to get use to people calling pop "soda" without the ice cream. despite living DC way for 20+ years, I still drink pop.

& in case you still doubt me. Here's part of the definition of Soda from Mirriam-webster.comDefinition of SODA2c : a sweet drink consisting of soda water, flavoring, and often ice cream

Gamistress said: & in case you still doubt me. Here's part of the definition of Soda from Mirriam-Webster.comDefinition of SODA2c : a sweet drink consisting of soda water, flavoring, and often ice cream

so I'll take a root beer float or a cherry soda thank you ;p

Ha! Well that's just...cool. And if you cant trust Webster, who can you trust?

Gamistress, where in DC are you? Have I met you at a WRW meeting? Or am I just a slacker member and haven't have the pleausre?

I asked the dh for his preferences. For once, he was picky about a food issue. He is a float person IF--and only if--the float is root beer with vanilla ice cream. Otherwise, he opts for a chocolate (and only chocolate) malted milkshake.

At one point, there was a shop in Chinatown (NYC) called the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, and I used to order the mango when I went there. I don't like the texture of actual mangoes, but I do like the flavor. I don't know whether that place still exists. Chinatown is too crowded for me, so I've stopped going.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said: Gamistress, where in DC are you? Have I met you at a WRW meeting?

I'm over NoVa but I'm just an faithful reader & lover of romances. I couldn't write a book to save my life. I'll stick to business letters & financials. But am very grateful that there's wonderful folks like you all who can do magic with words for me to enjoy ;)

I like rootbeer or dreamsicle float (or one other option noted below) or milkshakes. No malts. Can't say that I've tried an ice cream malted shake - can't say that I'd want to (grin). Cassondra describes the way to make the float perfectly. You can actually get the creamy goodness through a straw - a plus, and they leave you satifsfied. I'm always thirsty after drinking a milkshake.

The one other option for me is a cherry nectar. Cassondra - have you had one of these? It's vanilla ice cream with a cherry ambrosia syrup mixed with soda water - so it's like a cherry coke without the coke. Graeters Ice Cream made the best cherry nectars - which is very much like a float. I'm not sure they are even on the menu anymore, though. While I discovered cherry nectars in my teenage years in Cincinnati, I went to a local Graeters here in Columbus for a nostalgic visit - and they looked at me like I was insane...or maybe just old.

When I was young (pre-dark ages), my dad used to make wonderful milkshakes. My favorite was orange soda with vanilla ice cream - the perfect dreamscycle!! Since it's summer, I often lean toward fresh fruit shakes. But I'm not one to turn down DQ's triple chocolate blizzard!

What floats my boat? Well, I do like root beer floats in a frosty mug, but would go for a malt (with malt powder) instead. Chocolate malts, of course. Although, black raspberry malts are delish, too.

There is NOTHING like homemade vanilla ice cream. Yum! But, chocolate ice cream is my fave with Cookies-n-Cream a close second. I'm not much of a fruit person, so would probably pass on ice cream and fruit. Crushed peanut butter cups on chocolate ice cream is good.

We have gone through tons of ice cream this summer---about a bucket a week!

No floats!! Jeanne is right, that fizzy stuff ruins perfectly good ice cream. I'm a milkshake girl to the end. (Damn this lactose intollerance!! *waves fist in air*)

We have this lovely little shop here called the Skinny Dip Frozen Yogurt Bar. I am in love with their Cake Battter flavor. Could live on it. How they make something lowfat taste that good, I have no idea. But you've gotta try it!

You said: My favorite was orange soda with vanilla ice cream - the perfect dreamscycle!! Since it's summer, I often lean toward fresh fruit shakes. But I'm not one to turn down DQ's triple chocolate blizzard!

If you've ever HAD a blizzard, you would never turn one down. Slurrrrrrrp!!! They are fabulous, aren't they?

Deb said: What floats my boat? Well, I do like root beer floats in a frosty mug, but would go for a malt (with malt powder) instead. Chocolate malts, of course. Although, black raspberry malts are delish, too.

WOOOT! Another MALT fan! Hear that Cassondra! I'm catching up! Woot!

I know what you mean, Deb, about it being a big summer for ice cream. We've gone through box after box of ice cream sandwiches, not to mention how many gallons of ice cream. It's insane. Then again, we have had record temps in June AND July. I shudder to think what Aug will be like. Bleeech.

DQ had a blizzard several years ago that was a Southern Banana Pudding. It was to DIE for. Somehow they were able to keep the Vanilla wafers from being soggy and it was SOOOOOO good! We've been 3x this summer, and I keep looking for it, but sadly, not on the menu. I was even looking for a copycat recipe, it was THAT good!

Debra said: DQ had a blizzard several years ago that was a Southern Banana Pudding. It was to DIE for. Somehow they were able to keep the Vanilla wafers from being soggy and it was SOOOOOO good!

Oh. My. Gosh.

That would be HEAVEN. I love Nanner-puddin. I'm about 4 y/o again, in my mama's kitchen, every time I eat the stuff. Lord, I LOVE bannana puddin. And to make an ice cream that tastes that way, with crispy 'Nila wafers?

Glad you're milkshake girls, you and your lovely, brilliant daughter. (Some of us got to meet Beth's dau. at National. Gorgeous, smart and funny. As is to be expected, being Brilliant Beth's offspring!!)

So when's your next book out, Beth? I want to be sure and have a milkshake WITH MALT on hand as I read it.

I'm with Nancy on the ginger ale floats. That's my favorite, although I like root beer floats too. I like milkshakes as well, but no malt, thank you. And I don't want a milkshake so thick it requires a spoon to eat it. It needs to be just thick enough to require a little effort to get it through the straw. I'll take strawberry or peach please, but the real stuff, not the awful fake flavorings you get so many places these days.

Okay, don't get all in my face, but I've gotta go with ... root beer floats!! I love 'em! Hey, I love milk shakes too, but you can hold the malt. Although I do love popping a few dozen malted milk balls into my mouth (all at once) on occasion, so I'm not completely averse to the substance.

But I'm a purist, too. No flavors, no weirdness, no freakish additives. Just vanilla ice cream and root beer. Keepin' it real here. :-)

I'm a Floater. I think Malt is disgusting. I won't even eat malt balls. *LOL* Which I secretly call moth balls.

But my Dad is a Floater too, he introduced the concept to me. :) It's vanilla ice cream (always for me) with Pepsi poured OVER (never the reverse). Dad will do other ice cream flavors; I won't. I'm a purist.

Milkshakes are fine (without malt) but too much ice cream on a hot day makes me ill, so I wouldn't drink one on a very hot day.

On my sundae, I don't like fruit goo, but will probably do fruit. Nuts are okay, but preference wise, I'd just do caramel over my ice cream. Love the stuff.

Javakula is a cold blended coffee drink at Seattle's Best. I get the Chocolate Coffee Crunch but with chocolate shavings instead of coffee beans because I don't like having bits of coffee beans in my teeth.

Oh, that actually sounds really good with the chocolate shavings. And there's a Seattle's Best in the Atlanta airport. (I think it's Atlanta--might be another airport...Dallas maybe...

In defense of TEXAS...WE do know about floats. AND we know about heat!! (We've been over 100 degrees almost daily since Memorial Day!) New Yorkers were telling me "It's gonna be hot today, up to 85!" When I was there last week.

SOOOOOOOOO Here's how we beat the heat...Swimming in the pool followed by air conditioning and a nice chocolate milkshake, made with Blue Bell ice cream and ice cold milk. No fizzy stuff, no malt.

I like rootbeer or dreamsicle float (or one other option noted below) or milkshakes. No malts.

YES! Score one for float!

Cassondra describes the way to make the float perfectly. You can actually get the creamy goodness through a straw - a plus, and they leave you satifsfied. I'm always thirsty after drinking a milkshake.Me too. I do like pineapple milkshakes though. A small one, just every now and then. Floats I could have just about every day.

The one other option for me is a cherry nectar. Cassondra - have you had one of these? It's vanilla ice cream with a cherry ambrosia syrup mixed with soda water - so it's like a cherry coke without the coke. Graeters Ice Cream made the best cherry nectars - which is very much like a float. I'm not sure they are even on the menu anymore, though.

I've never heard of it. Was the cherry a syrup? Wonder if we could get the recipe? And I wonder if it could be adapted to strawberries (my favorite fruit topping/flavor). It sounds wonderful.

When I was young (pre-dark ages), my dad used to make wonderful milkshakes. My favorite was orange soda with vanilla ice cream - the perfect dreamscycle!!

Now see, I would call that a float, because it has soda in it.

Since it's summer, I often lean toward fresh fruit shakes. But I'm not one to turn down DQ's triple chocolate blizzard! You know, I don't love blizzards, though the Butterfinger ones are hard to resist. Fresh fruit shakes are fantastic. I like almost any kind of fresh fruit though.

DQ had a blizzard several years ago that was a Southern Banana Pudding. It was to DIE for. Somehow they were able to keep the Vanilla wafers from being soggy and it was SOOOOOO good! We've been 3x this summer, and I keep looking for it, but sadly, not on the menu. I was even looking for a copycat recipe, it was THAT good!

Okay I gotta say, that sounds WAY too good to pass up. Surely there's a copycat recipe on the web somewhere?

Am I the only one who thinks few things can top a Wendy's Frosty? Chocolate only. Though vanilla is my favorite flavor for milkshakes, there's something weird about a vanilla frosty.

See, I never have been able to figure this out, but you're in good company Terri because most people love them.

I, however, don't get this and have never seen the magic. When I get one, or take a bite of someone else's, I'm like, "ew". It's just soft serve ice cream in a Wendy's cup. They named it a frosty and everybody flocked to it. I've never been able to figure that out. But they've made a bazillion dollars because people like it so much.

I'm with Nancy on the ginger ale floats. That's my favorite, although I like root beer floats too.

Yes! A vote for floats!

I like milkshakes as well, but no malt, thank you. And I don't want a milkshake so thick it requires a spoon to eat it. It needs to be just thick enough to require a little effort to get it through the straw.

Amen, Sistah! Preach it! *waves hanky*

I'll take strawberry or peach please, but the real stuff, not the awful fake flavorings you get so many places these days.

Suz said: SOOOOOOOOO Here's how we beat the heat...Swimming in the pool followed by air conditioning and a nice chocolate milkshake, made with Blue Bell ice cream and ice cold milk. No fizzy stuff, no malt.

A milk shake in its purest state!

Sigh, ANOTHER purist. I'll be Rocky the wonder-dog, swimmer extraordinaire would eat a float with me.

And I'll be you would oogle Daniel Craig with me too, even if you DON'T admit that Texas is an alien-state.

BTW, total bummer about the heat locker you're in. I think our heat advisory is only about 105, but I really wouldn't want to be IN DC today, or at any of the monuments. All that pavement and heated stone? Ohhh, no. Air conditioning for me, folks.

I'm a Floater. I think Malt is disgusting. I won't even eat malt balls. *LOL* Which I secretly call moth balls.

Ha! I may adopt this name for them, though I don't mind those and will eat them on occasion. But no malt in ice cream.

You get that Jeanne? I got another float vote. I'm catching back up. *grin*

But my Dad is a Floater too, he introduced the concept to me. :) It's vanilla ice cream (always for me) with Pepsi poured OVER (never the reverse).

Well, Pepsi would do in a pinch, I suppose, but high five on the "pouring over" instead of "scooping into". It helps melt the ice cream into the liquid.

Dad will do other ice cream flavors; I won't. I'm a purist.

I won't either. Not for floats.

Milkshakes are fine (without malt) but too much ice cream on a hot day makes me ill, so I wouldn't drink one on a very hot day.

You know, you're the first one to say this, and I'm this way too. I get a little icky feeling when I drink too much milkshake. It's just SO dense and filling. You're the only other person I've heard admit this. I thought I was the only one. Floats are lighter-bodied. Or something.

In defense of TEXAS...WE do know about floats. AND we know about heat!! (We've been over 100 degrees almost daily since Memorial Day!) New Yorkers were telling me "It's gonna be hot today, up to 85!" When I was there last week.

Yeah, I was smirking at the "Oh, it's so hot!" stuff too. I smiled and thought "wimps." *grin*

SOOOOOOOOO Here's how we beat the heat...Swimming in the pool followed by air conditioning and a nice chocolate milkshake, made with Blue Bell ice cream and ice cold milk. No fizzy stuff, no malt.

Suz said: New Yorkers were telling me "It's gonna be hot today, up to 85!" When I was there last week.

Yeah, Cassondra and Suz, I smirked at this too. A couple of years ago, London had a "heat wave" - now in their defense it doesn't usually get in the high 80's over there - but 85 is a lovely day here in July or August. Even in early Sept. Particularly THIS summer.

Of course, I also like black cherry ice cream, fresh cherries, cherry pie, and cherry cough drops. And cherry Coke, especially a fountain mix of the two, though bottled will do.

I like fresh cherries, cherry pie made with fresh cherries, and I like fountain cherry Coke. Although I prefer a bar mixed Grenadine and Coke or Grenadine and 7-up (Shirley Temple).

Other than cherry Coke and Grenadine, I don't like cherry flavored things. I also don't like banana flavored anything, though I like fresh bananas (not too ripe). I do like the cherry limeade from sonic, which has cherry syrup. Those syrup instances are okay, I think, because the acid of the Coke, 7-up, or other soft drink cuts the icky-ness of the disgusting cherry syrup. The flavor of cherry syrup is a real turn off for me.

I think my disdain for it came from the horrible cherry-flavored medicines I used to have to take when I was a kid. That smell still about turns my stomach. Blech.

A friend of mine just suggested, via an otherwise lovely phone call, that I consider an infared sauna treatment. "They heat you up from the inside out, you get a great sweat going. Wonderful for detox!"

Oh. My. God. (Yes, Leah, I'm talking about you)

Then, she LOL and said, "Wait, I forgot who I was talking to. The Queen of I-hate-hot-weather"

Infared? Lord, I already feel like spontaneous combustion is a danger, much less willingly jumping into a box and getting heated up like a par-boiled lobster.

If I'm going to go with a flavored ice cream, it will probably be some manner of strawberry. Though at Baskin Robbins I do the eggnog ice cream, Black Walnut, Coffee, and in the spring they had one that was called (I think) Tax Shelter. Or something to do with taxes. I got that made into Steve's birthday cake. It was SO good.

Jeanne wrote: Well, it was a nice bar. And despite the deplorable service - they NEVER get that we really DO need more servers! - the company was superb.

The company was beyond compare, yes. Poor service was a motif of the conference, and not through any fault of the servers, who were hustling. There just were not nearly enough of them.

But I thought a Cosmopolitan was a two-layered drink, possibly with grenadine as the upper layer. With something peach-colored below. Adn not tasting so blatantly of vodka. What I got was not what I expected.

Nancy said: But I thought a Cosmopolitan was a two-layered drink, possibly with grenadine as the upper layer. With something peach-colored below. Adn not tasting so blatantly of vodka. What I got was not what I expected.

As it involves that vaguely cherry flavored stuff, I don't do cosmos. :> We need the Cassondra or Revenger's Second Chance or some other bar-savvy individual to tell if that was just a badly made something, or a cosmo-wannabe.

Can't believe your DH was in Texas, andif in Texas, in Houston! The Near NorthSide of Houston, home of John MarshallJr. High, Jeff Davis Sr. High, CarnegieLibrary, and Dubie's Pharmacy, was theplace to find both ROOT BEER FLOATS andMALTED MILK SHAKES! (The afore-named sites were our hangouts in the late '40s & 1950s.) I remember enjoying floats in those days, no Coke floats, they had to be root beer floats. BTW, we may have been strange (we wereknown as JMJHS Cougars or JDHS Panthers) but we were definitely not ALIENS!!

But I thought a Cosmopolitan was a two-layered drink, possibly with grenadine as the upper layer. With something peach-colored below. Adn not tasting so blatantly of vodka. What I got was not what I expected.

Can't believe your DH was in Texas, and if in Texas, in Houston! ... I remember enjoying floats in those days, no Coke floats, they had to be root beer floats. BTW, we may have been strange (we wereknown as JMJHS Cougars or JDHS Panthers) but we were definitely not ALIENS!!

Well, I didn't think so either, Pat, but here is the official list of places Steve could not get a float, because they'd never heard of such a thing:

HoustonOverland Park, Kansas,Ogden, UtahFt Benning, GA (this HAD to be just an off day for them, doncha think?)

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Donna MacMeans, Trish Milburn, and Nancy Northcott will all be in Atlanta for the Moonlight and Magnolias conference in Decatur, Georgia September 30 through October 2nd. If you're in the area, stop by for the booksigning. We'd love to see you.

Redeeming the Rogue by Donna MacMeans received a 4.5 star TOP PICK! review from Romantic Times Magazine.

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